Amnesty aims to take firearms off the streets

But even before 2005’s unprecedented increase in gun-related violence, this country had been grappling with problems associated with illegal firearms and ammunition for several years. There are records of gun smuggling taking place between this country and Venezuela from as far back as the 1800s, when firearms and gun powder were shipped across to the mainland to Venezuelan freedom fighters who were fighting the Spanish for independence.

On July 27, 1990, illegally obtained firearms were used by members of the Jamaat al Muslimeen group in its failed attempt to overthrow the Trinidad and Tobago Government. Then Prime Minister ANR Robinson and several members of his National Alliance for Reconstruction (NAR) administration were held hostage at the Red House during the short-lived coup.

The heavily armed group also attacked police headquarters and in the chaos that ensued, dozens were killed and hundreds wounded.

The Jamaat al Muslimeen gunmen, who eventually surrendered, were eventually pardoned, escaping prosecution for that armed insurrection.

The extent of this country’s link to illegal arms smuggling was underscored when Lance Small, a member of the Jamaat al Muslimeen who had participated in the 1990 attempted coup, was extradited to the United States on arms smuggling charges. Last August, Small was sentenced to more than 12 years in a US federal prison for trying to smuggle 60 AK-47 rifles, ten submachine guns and ten machine gun silencers into Trinidad and Tobago.

According to law enforcement sources, the problem of illegal firearms has been made worse in recent years with the influx of criminal deportees into the country. That situation, they claim, has had a significant impact on the number and type of weapons being smuggled into the country and there is an increased level of sophistication in the weapons used and the way crimes are committed.

The quantity of arms which continues to surface indicates the availability of firearms on the streets.

In response, Government has reviewed laws, regulations and administration mechanisms in an effort to gain more effective control over the production and movement of small arms and light weapons in the country. One such measure was passage of the Firearms (Amendment) Act in early 2004 (see sidebar story).

Amidst attempts at other anti-crime initiatives by the authorities, the announcement early last week by FIFA Vice President Austin "Jack" Warner of a Soca Warriors Gun Amnesty Plan brought the firearms issue centre stage.

Piggybacking on the popularity of the Germany-bound Trinidad and Tobago senior football team, Warner and officials of the Trinidad and Tobago Football Federation (TTFF) plan to use members of the team to encourage gunmen and gangsters to give up their weapons.

The proposal involves the launch of a multi-media campaign, utilising popular music, radio ads and flyers.

National Security Minister Martin Joseph, who last year said a gun amnesty would not work in this country, when the idea was first raised by some anti-crime private sector groups in the country, has expressed support for the Soca Warriors Gun Amnesty Plan.

"It has always been the position of the Government of Trinidad and Tobago and the Ministry of National Security that all citizens have a pivotal part in the fight against crime," he said in a statement soon after the initiative was announced.

Under a gun amnesty, people can hand in their illegal firearms without being prosecuted. For a stipulated period of time, the police encourage people to hand in illegally-held guns and ammunition, imitation firearms and air guns which can be used for criminal purpose and all other unwanted guns and ammunition.

This initiative has been attempted in several countries with mixed results. In July 2004, a Brazilian woman handed in some 1,300 firearms to the authorities and in return collected $65,000 under an amnesty. Brazil had the world’s fourth-highest murder rate, with 40,000 gun-related murders in one year alone.

In the United Kingdom, a month-long gun amnesty in March 2003 saw more than 40,000 guns and just under a million rounds of ammunition handed over to the police — considerably more than initial estimates of 25,000 weapons. However, some opposition MPs and community activists claimed the measure did little to stamp out Britain’s growing gun culture.

A similar exercise in Toronto, Canada, late last year yielded 261 guns and 1,500 rounds of ammunition. In South Africa, where close to 20,000 people were murdered, a three-month gun amnesty saw more than 30,000 weapons being handed into the police last March. A further 8,400 were confiscated at road blocks and during police searches.

Folade Mutota, coordinator of the Women’s Institute for Alternative Development (WINAD), a local group that has spearheaded several community-based gun control initiatives, told Sunday Newsday a gun amnesty will only work in Trinidad and Tobago if it is done alongside effective law enforcement and there is a social structure in place to allow former gunmen to be reintegrated into their communities and "satisfy their basic needs in a legal way".

"I don’t know that we are prepared for a gun amnesty," she said.

"We are dealing with a sub-culture that has developed around acquisition and use of these weapons. Until we are able to effectively deal with the lifestyle and expectations, until there are social buffers in place to prevent backsliding into criminal activities, a gun amnesty will have limited success, if any."

The Soca Warriors Gun Amnesty Plan is expected to get going next month.